Promise of a Lifetime
by Mademoiselle Alice
Summary: Four years. A rather long time to be with someone as ramen crazed as you...but i wouldn't have it any other way...so why? Why did you feel the need to fulfill a promise you made to me years ago? I don't want anyone else but you. Naruto/Sakura


_Hellooooo i don't think i've ever written in first person so please bear with me. Well here you go first chapter to _Promise of a Lifetime_ and by the end of the story I'm pretty sure you all can guess whats going to happen next so make predictions if you like_ :)

It had been 4 years since Naruto and I had gotten together. Ever since Sasuke had failed to come back on his own, I finally got tired of waiting for something that would never happen.

I mean Naruto had been with me since the start, always trying to make me smile and yank me out of my Sasuke crazed depression. Denial is a horrible thing let me tell you but before I knew it, he had managed to convince me to go on a date with him. He claimed it was an innocent gathering between two friends, which it was, that is until after the dinner, where he had also managed to have me invite him back to my apartment, into my bed and under my sheets. Funny how things work and despite what others think of his intelligence, he's actually pretty smart and quite…um tactful if you catch my drift…sneaky bastard.

Anywaaaays after about a couple of months of going steady, he decided it was about time we moved in together. And I understood completely, having to live alone for so long, one would be anxious to get rid of a life like that…

But he wanted me to move in with him.

And I was just _not_ gonna have it.

No offense to him or anything, I mean I love him more than one could imagine, for his faults and everything, however he did take a liking to his ramen…and I mean a **strong** liking, as in his whole house contained the scent of his favorite instant cup of noodles and it would not go away, trust me I tried just about _everything_.

That's the main reason why we ended up going back to my place most of the time…ahem!

After several disagreements of the intolerable stench of his house, which he doesn't seem to mind at all…figures, and my one room apartment being too small for the both of us, we decided to get a nice apartment near the outskirts of town. It was pretty close to the hospital though which was good for me, however karma got her way because Ichiraku was just around the corner. Not that it mattered much; Naruto claims my cooking is way better although I did find him once or twice at the famous ramen stand. This was due to my banishment of his favorite instant food because of a certain incident of ruining my microwave due to a ramen explosion he claims wasn't his fault. Oh well, without his impulsive buying of more than necessary cup o noodles will hopefully help us to save up some money for that new microwave he promised me…which I still haven't received…

However I enjoy my life with Naruto, his cheerfulness and good attitude always puts me in a good mood and living together has really helped us to get a better understanding of reading each others moods without saying any words, which brings me to this morning.

It's a regular weekday morning like any other except I'm still at home due to the vacation I received away from the hospital for the week.

So I notice today, that despite Naruto's usual cheerfulness, he gets easily depressed by the morning news and now that I have time on my hands, I'm willing to try to yank him out of his depression.

I woke up to the low volume of the TV and when I stepped out of our room in baby blue boy shorts and a white t shirt I saw him sitting cross legged on the floor with his head on the coffee table in front of the television.

I sighed, knowing from his chakra flow that he was indeed awake, listening to the slight hum of the local news telling him all the misfortunes Konoha and its people were facing.

I rolled my eyes in a playful way and walked past him to the kitchen looking for the secret stash of ramen I had bought the other day because yes I did feel bad about taking it away from him.

I selected a pork flavored one and walked back to the living room. Kneeling down next to him I leaned closer and whispered good morning to him. He just nodded slightly and continued to tune in to the news which was hosted by a man with a low anchorman type voice.

"Local nin cat sets fire to apartment complex downtown, no one seriously injured but one brave boy is being tended to at Konoha hospital, suffering from minor scratches for attempting to capture the feline culprit …"

I raised my eyebrows and leaned my head on Naruto's shoulder.

"The owner admits to forgetting to feed the cat, possibly causing this incident to happen…"

"I didn't mean to –sniff- she's never down this before, all the tenants know her and she is actually quite friendly…"

"But deep down inside she's a ferocious feline with tendencies to set apartment complexes on fire when not receiving the food she demanded" said the anchorman in a suspicious voice

"What? Wait no that's not-" But the anchorman interrupted the poor lady, putting a hand up to his ear to speak into his headset "And in later news…"

They had to be kidding right?

I giggled and said out loud "Blaming a nin cat, that's silly. It was probably the boy who was playing with matches and set the place on fire. The cat most likely tried to stop him"

But Naruto wasn't listening and sighed deeply, signifying that yes he did feel bad for the boy and was probably getting sadder by the second.

I frowned and put a hand on his shoulder "Come one Naruto, forget about the news, you know the boys going to be alright" I rubbed his back, trying to comfort him but was given no response.

"Naruto?"

...

"Heyyy"

...

"Look what I have!" I said enthusiastically, shaking the cup and I know, just _know_ he heard the rattling of the noodles inside the container.

His ears perked and he slightly moved his head to the side in order to face me. His head still rested on the coffee table, he looked up in order to meet my eyes.

His eyes were a pale blue and were missing that spark they usually had. As he stared into my green ones, I got a little worried until I remembered that he was out late at a conference with Tsunade and other Anbu and was probably just tired.

I gave him a sympathetic look "I'll go heat this up okay?" and smiled at him but before I could get up he grabbed the ramen cup and set it down on the table. He lifted his head and put his arms around my waist, bringing me closer to him in a tight embrace.

Caught off guard, it took a while for me to snake my arms around him but when I did, he snuggled his face into my neck, breathing deeply.

I sensed the several emotions he emitted from his body and got sadness, uneasiness, and it even seemed like he was afraid or even guilty. I knotted my eyebrows and rubbed his back, trying to comfort him and then….

I heard his stomach growl

"Oh!" I smiled and got out of his embrace, putting my arms on his shoulders and pushed him back slightly in order to look in his eyes. I held him at arms length and stated "Go freshen up and I'll have breakfast ready by the time your done." He nodded, finally smiling for the first time today and headed for the bathroom.

I sighed heavily. Wow that was intense; I wonder what's bothering him….

20 minutes later he came out with just a towel, a huge grin on his face and his hair releasing water droplets, creating a trail behind him as he walked into the kitchen. I didn't mind the mess he was creating because that's exactly the way I always wanted him…err…with the happy expression, not the lack of clothes. As he sat down I placed the steaming bowl of ramen in front of him and sat down across from him to join him with my own bowl.

His eyes widened with delight and began scarfing down his noodles.

"Hank uuu sooo much" he managed to say and I couldn't help but grin at him.

He finished rather quickly and started enthusiastically telling me about the meeting he had the day before. He was assigned to a mission and was leaving early in the morning the next day. I frowned putting my spoon down "But I thought Tsunade said no missions for you this week"

He looked at me apologetically "I know you have this week off and that's what she said but I'm the most qualified for this mission and" he put a hand over mine and looked down "its my only chance"

He had mumbled the last part and I couldn't understand him very well so I leaned forward

"What?" I asked

He looked up and took his hand back, putting it behind his head and giving me a reassuring smile, with teeth and all

"Don't you worry my Cherry Blossom! I'll be back before you even have the chance to miss me!"

I rolled my eyes playfully and smiled at him "So it's not dangerous?"

"Doesn't have to be" he said honestly and I raised my eyebrow at him in confusion but before I could ask him more I jumped up at the sudden sound of the teapot whistling, signifying that the water was done boiling for Naruto's second bowl of ramen.

I got up, sprinting off to the kitchen while calling behind me "Ready for your second bowl!" and got the response I was waiting for.

"SAKURA-CHAN I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!" I laughed preparing the bowl as I sighed happily to myself.

I found out later that I was very naïve and ignorant that morning. How could I have missed the signs, how could I have been so _stupid?_

If only I had questioned him further, if only I had tried harder to find out the truth…The incident could have probably been avoided. All I wanted was to be happy with him, I didn't want anything more, I never _wished_ for anything else and he…

He held onto a stupid promise he made me years ago when we were genin. I didn't think that I would have to tell him I didn't want that anymore, I couldn't care less about it but he being the ninja he was, never went back on his ninja ways…

...

Holaaaa :)

This is my new story :) i hope you enjoyed it and although i haven't written the second chapter...yet! I have most of the story in my head so i indeed know where i want to go with it. However i wanted to upload it anyway and see if i get a good response from my readers which will help motivate me to write the second chapter so now you know. Don't forget to review!

Farewell,

Mademoiselle Alice

P.S. i know all of you can do this so what do you think is going to happen next? Who will be able to guess correctly! Weee


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